Synopsis:
Candyman (2021):
For decades, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green were terrorized by a ghost story about a supernatural, hook-handed killer. In present day, an artist begins to explore the macabre history of Candyman, not knowing it would unravel his sanity and unleash a terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.
(Synopsis pulled from Google)
Directed by: Nia Dacosta
Screenplay by: Nia Dacosta, Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld
Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris
My Edition: Blu-ray
My Thoughts:
First of all, I knew the second this was announced that I wanted to see Candyman. I am honestly a little obsessed with the first movie. And a little less with the second. As for the third, to be totally honest I often forget that one even exists. But I love the first movie, and I love the Clive Barker short story The Forbidden, on which this franchise is based. By the way, that story can be found in the Books of Blood, which I will definitely be reviewing and posting at some point. Have I ever told you about my fanatical love of Clive Barker’s work?
So, why, if I so desperately wanted to see Candyman, did I wait nearly a full year after it was released to actually watch it, one might wonder. Well, honestly it was because of my fanatical love of the story that I was a little wary. I think I built it up so far in my mind that I was afraid the reality couldn’t compete. But you know what? Compete, it did. I loved this movie. As sequels go, I couldn’t have dared hope for better.
I am the writing on the walls. I am the sweet smell of blood on the street. The buzz that echoes in the alleyways. They will say I shed innocent blood. You are far from innocent, but they will say you were. That’s all that matters.
I think that Dacosta did an absolutely brilliant job directing a stellar cast in their depiction of what must have been one hell of a standout script. And I don’t care if that sounds like fangirling. That’s pretty much what it is. I’ve been meaning to watch Dacosta’s Little Woods as well. Now that I’ve experienced what she’s capable of I think I’m going to bump that one up on my priority list.
There is body horror galore (and boy is it gloriously icky), but not a lot of on screen violence. But I think the reason for that is well justified. This is a movie by Black people, and starring an almost entirely Black cast. Black people have historically not gotten much play in horror that hasn’t ended in violent on-screen death, so I think that saving the overt violence for the deaths of white characters was a really sensible choice. We all see and hear about enough real life violence being perpetrated on them, I think. So you’ll still get your nasty, violent deaths, but unless I’m misremembering (pretty sure I’m not), any deaths of Black characters take place out of frame. And you know what? It works.
Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyman.
I feel like I would be remiss if I failed to mention the wonderful cinematography in Candyman. The cinematographer was John Guleserian, whose previous work includes a bunch of stuff I’ve never heard of. But, assuming that shot composition is on him (I assume, but I don’t know fuck-all about movie-making so take that with a big ol’ grain of salt) – good job, dude. The mirror shots. And the one panned out kill (once you’ve watched, you’ll know the one). Perfection. Some of the shots are really lovely. And then there’s the shadow puppet wizardry of Manual Cinema. If you watched the trailer, you’ve seen what I’m talking about.
It’s absolutely beautiful. I’d say these little shadow pupped vignettes were probably my favorite parts of Candyman. They’re just gorgeous.
Rating:
If you haven’t watched it, fix that. If you are looking for horror that is both terrifying and socially relevant, you’d be hard pressed to find a modern one more capably done.
Candyman
Directed by: Nia Dacosta
US Release Date: August 27, 2021
Universal Pictures
Rated R
91 Minutes
